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Gardiner council opts to run city manager search in-house, seeks broader public engagement
Summary
Councilors agreed not to hire an outside search firm and directed staff to manage application intake and scheduling; they asked for a hands-on job description, candidate benchmarks and public-facing steps for finalist review.
Gardiner councilors directed staff to handle the city manager recruitment process without contracting an outside search firm and asked for a more detailed, publicly accessible job posting and opportunities for public input on finalists.
Interim City Manager Denise Brown told the council she could collect applications, prepare candidate packets and schedule interviews, work the council has handled previously with outside firms. Several councilors said they preferred the cost savings of an in-house process while emphasizing the need for council-led vetting and confidentiality. Councilor Rusty Greenleaf asked that the job advertisement emphasize that the city manager role is a "working position" requiring hands-on engagement with public works and businesses.
Alex Smith, a resident who spoke during the meeting, urged more public transparency and said business owners and younger residents want opportunities to engage with finalists. Councilors asked staff to place the full job description on the city website, include desired education and residency language, and to publish the posting across Maine municipal and nonprofit channels. Brown said she will accept edits to the posting by the end of the week and proceed with advertising if the council confirms those changes.
No formal vote was required; the council’s informal consensus was to proceed without an outside firm, to route applications through the interim city manager, and to prepare the posting for publication before Labor Day.
